Urgent Alert to City Retiree Health Participants

[cdillon]

Please see message below from Attorney Krislov.


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From: Clint
Subject: Urgent Alert to City Retiree Health Participants-better call your unions and state legislators!! buried in the City's proposed legislation for "Pension Reform" is a prohibition on using retirement system money to subsidize healthcare

Urgent Alert to City Retiree Health Participants - Better call your unions and state legislators!!

While our case is stayed, the City is busily working to legislatively dump the retirees off the healthcare entirely.

Buried within the legislation being proposed is a prohibition on using Retirement Funds’ money to subsidize retiree healthcare. (See Sections 8-174.2 and 11-179.1.)

Although the attached proposed legislation, apparently sponsored by Speaker Madigan, explicitly applies to the Municipal Employees Fund (Article 8) and the Laborers Fund (Article 11), you can be certain the city will be pushing the same changes through Springfield on Police and Fire, as well.

But, there are two other very troubling sections, as well.

First, it explicitly purports to apply to all participants, not just those who start after the date of enactment (Section 1-160(e)).

Second, if the funding enforcement provisions actually get enforced (remember, in the Sklodowski case, we sued to enforce similar required contributions from the State; the appellate court’s favorable ruling that would have cured the problem was reversed by the Illinois Supreme Court) it is explicitly subordinated to the city’s other debts (Sections 8-173.1 and 11-169.1). This provision is probably intended to assure bondholders that they get paid before retirees.

While we are not equipped to do legislative lobbying, you all should start looking for the phone numbers, and start calling your state representatives, state senators, and, of course, your unions and retiree groups, and voice your opposition to this backdoor effort to permanently terminate your healthcare subsidies legislatively.

(Perhaps the City should consider saving money by eliminating front doors from public buildings, since it’s the back doors through which most of the business seems to go. J)

Starting right now would not be too soon!

Clint Krislov

Krislov & Associates, Ltd.

Civic Opera Building, Suite 1300

20 North Wacker Drive

Chicago, Illinois 60606

Telephone: 312-606-0500

Facsimile: 312-606-0207

Website: www.krislovlaw.com

Email: clint@krislovlaw.com